Hi! 

Before I begin, I must just say thank you! Many of you have reached out to me, sending encouragement, support, and love. I am really truly deeply touched, thank you for following along on my journey. It means so much to have people like you all in my life! 

Anyways, it's been a lovely week 2 full of fun here in ZA. Yet even in a new place, with new people and new experiences all the time, monotony still happens. The most relevant example of this is my volunteer placement. I've only been in for two weeks, but I've fallen into the routine, which now that I think about it, it's just want I want. What initially was novelty is becoming normality. I'm getting to know the kids' personalities everyday, and may even have a few favorites (oops). The more time I spend with them, the more I know this is where I'm supposed to be. And even though it might seem menial, pushing little girls on the swings and blowing bubble is what I do here. Nothing is better right now than getting a smile or giggle. 

I am really enjoying the company of my fellow volunteers. We're really only apart for 4-5 hours a day while we are at our volunteer placements, and we all get along so well when we are together! After two short weeks, I really feel like we are a little family. It's fascinating to lean about these peoples' lives and what led them to Cape Town. It's definitely a comfort while being in such a foreign place to be in the company of people who share the desire to be of service, they are amazing!

We had a lovely Saturday yesterday, visiting a fantastic farmer's market called the "Old Biscuit Mill" - full of fresh, local food set up in stands by vendors.  Seriously, any type of food one could want, fresh juices, amazing coffee, wine, and beer, yummy desserts, and flowers so pretty that I had to take pictures :) all housed in two big tents. It was like they brought every amazing restaurant in Cape Town to us! After the Biscuit Mill, we headed out to Cape Mental Health's annual Kite Festival- CMH runs the special care center I volunteer at, so we had to go support! The sky was full of huge, colorful kites- so gorgeous with mountains in the background. And of course since we were surrounded by kites, I had to take pictures in the Theta pose! For those of you who don't know, my college sorority Kappa Alpha Theta uses kites in its symbology, and Thetas take lots of kite pics! Another volunteer here is a Theta from California, so we broke out our letters and took some pics. So fun!  We also spent some time at the beach, but it was windy so we didn't stay too long. Chalk up another fabulous day in Africa!

Gorgeous flowers at the farmer's market!

Cheesy? Ok maybe :)

Hope you all had a super weekend too! Lots of love!


Laura XO